Notes and Comments

As word was received at home of the disappearance of the warrior,
a stone was raised with the brief inscription telling us that a beloved
son, husband, father or kinsman had died somewhere in Lithuania,
Russia, Greece or England.
Prof. Jansson has given us in 48 short pages a concentrated and
stirring story of these early voyagers as distilled from these mute
stones of long ago. It is well written in the enthusiastic and vigorous
style for which the author is so well known.
NILS WILLIAM OLSSON
Washington, D. C.
NOTES AND COMMENTS
E. G. J .
Nybyggarna (The Pioneers) is the title of Vilhelm Mo-berg's
third novel in the series dealing with a family of
peasants from the province of Småland who emigrated to
America a generation ago. Published in the late fall the
novel became a best seller immediately and even before the
Christmas rush had begun it had reached a sale of nearly
100,000 copies. The two earlier volumes, The Emigrants
and Unto a G o o d Land, have been published in English un­der
the imprint of Simon & Schuster, New York. It is ex­pected
that this, the third book of the trilogy, will also be
published in English shortly.
Sji Sj£
More references for those who are interested in the story
of the Swedes in America:
"What America Means to Me" by J . Hugo Aronson, in
The A m e r i c a n Magazine, Vol. CLXII, No. 2 (August, 1956),
pp. 15-17, 72-75. ("Forty-five years ago I left Sweden for
America. I can hardly believe that that 20-year old immi­grant
boy is now Governor of Montana. Where but in
America could anyone have a story like mine?")
"Swedish Contributions to American Culture" by Earl
Warren, Chief Justice of the United States, in The Depart­ment
of State Bulletin, Vol. X X X I I I , No. 841 (August,
100
1955), pp. 222-224. (Address made at the American Festi­val
at Skansen, Sweden, on July 5, 1955.)
"Captain John Ericsson: Pioneer in Solar Energy" by
John I. Yellott, in The Sun at W o r k , Quarterly News Let­ter
of the Association for Applied Solar Energy, Phoenix,
Arizona, Vol. I, No. 3 (Sept., 1956), pp. 6-13; Vol. I, No. 4
(Dec, 1956), pp. 8-14; Vol. II, No. 1 (March, 1957), pp.
10-14; Vol. II, No. 2 (June, 1957), pp. 10-13. (Detailed dis­cussion
of Ericsson's several inventions—the caloric engine,
the screw propeller, iron-clad warships—and of the Battle
at Hampton Roads.)
* * *
"Utah News" is a column written by Carl E. Johansson
of Salt Lake City and published regularly in California
Veckoblad. In the issue of April 11, 1957 appeared an ac­count
which we found so interesting that we asked Mr.
Johansson for permission to quote the following excerpts:
Once again a General Conference of the Latter Day Saints
Church has come to a close. . . . The (Swedish) Reunion
Saturday night in the Temple View Stake Hall was attend­ed
by more than 500 people of Swedish blood.. . . For many
the highlight of the evening came when the (chairman)
asked all those who had filled a mission for the Church in
Sweden to stand, and more than 100 men and women stood
up. . . . Swedish blood is flowing in the veins of more than
one out of every five persons in this great territory and
nearly all of these people have come as a result of the
preaching and instructions of the "Mormon Elders" or mis­sionaries
sent from Utah and surrounding States to Swe­den.
. . . For the person with the time, ability, money and
energy to gather all the available material in diaries and
family histories and to interview people with information
there is a tremendous opportunity to write a doctor's thesis
or something similar. . . . I would dare a guess that in no
place in the world where emigrants from Sweden have
gathered for the last 100 years is there more valuable ma­terial
written—and scattered—but still available than right
101
here in this territory. And every day you find people doing
everything to get information of their forefathers from Swe­den.
. . . You cannot visit the Genealogical Society's office
and microfilming department here without finding a dozen
or so people speaking Swedish and going through the rec­ords
that were written so painstakingly by hand by the old
parish ministers in Sweden.
% % %
Isidor Kjellberg (1841-1895), who is mentioned in the
article on Swedish labor strikes in this issue (see page 88),
spent a few years in America. After two years in the In­stitute
of Technology in Stockholm, he had worked as a
mechanical engineer and draftsman. In 1869 he came to
America and was the editor of Svenska Monitoren in St.
Paul (1870) and of Justitia in Chicago (1871). Returning
to Sweden in 1872 he founded that year the weekly Öst­göten
in Linköping, a paper that became widely known as
an outspoken champion of the rights of labor and as a
propagandist for political, religious, and economic reforms.
The avowed enemy of the monarchy, of class distinction,
bureaucracy and intellectual snobbery, Kjellberg advocated
in his paper and through popular lectures, the republican
form of government, world peace, labor unions, the pre­vention
of cruelty to animals, free speech and a free press.
In 1881 he served a jail sentence for having published a
radical anti-monarchial article in his paper,. He visited
America again in 1890 and lectured in Minneapolis and
Chicago. He wrote two books on America: Föredrag o m
A m e r i k a , hållet i Stockholm den 18 febr. 1883 (Stockholm,
1883), and A m e r i k a - b o k . Anteckningar från författarens
besök i Nya Verlden år 1890, o m huru våra dervarande
vänner och anförvandter, bröder och systrar, ha det (Lin­köping,
1892). When he died in 1895 his son became the
editor and publisher of Östgöten.
102
A N I N V I T A T I ON
Americans of Swedish background, or of whatever back­ground,
are invited to become members of the Swedish Pio­neer
Historical Society and thus to support its research and
educational program. The Society, established to record the
achievements of the Swedish pioneers, is an American or­ganization
whose work is centered on fundamental things
—the collecting of historical materials, books and pamph­lets,
the encouraging and advancing of research, the schol­arly
editing and publishing of historical material, and the
promoting of general interest in the contributions of Swed­ish
pioneers and their descendants to the development of
America.
Sustaining members contributing $10 per year receive
all publications of the Society free, including the Quarterly.
Annual members contributing $3 per year receive the Quar­terly
and have the right to purchase all other publications
at cost. A single contribution of $250 or more provides a
Life membership. Contributions to the Society are de­ductible
for Federal income tax purposes.
Please fill in the form below and forward it together
with check to the Chairman of the Membership Com­mittee.
Chairman, Membership Committee
Swedish Pioneer Historical Society
208 N. Wells Street, Chicago 6, III.
Please enroll me as a (Sustaining) (Annual) member
of the Swedish Pioneer Historical Society. My contri­bution
of $ is enclosed herewith.
Name
Address
103

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As word was received at home of the disappearance of the warrior,
a stone was raised with the brief inscription telling us that a beloved
son, husband, father or kinsman had died somewhere in Lithuania,
Russia, Greece or England.
Prof. Jansson has given us in 48 short pages a concentrated and
stirring story of these early voyagers as distilled from these mute
stones of long ago. It is well written in the enthusiastic and vigorous
style for which the author is so well known.
NILS WILLIAM OLSSON
Washington, D. C.
NOTES AND COMMENTS
E. G. J .
Nybyggarna (The Pioneers) is the title of Vilhelm Mo-berg's
third novel in the series dealing with a family of
peasants from the province of Småland who emigrated to
America a generation ago. Published in the late fall the
novel became a best seller immediately and even before the
Christmas rush had begun it had reached a sale of nearly
100,000 copies. The two earlier volumes, The Emigrants
and Unto a G o o d Land, have been published in English un­der
the imprint of Simon & Schuster, New York. It is ex­pected
that this, the third book of the trilogy, will also be
published in English shortly.
Sji Sj£
More references for those who are interested in the story
of the Swedes in America:
"What America Means to Me" by J . Hugo Aronson, in
The A m e r i c a n Magazine, Vol. CLXII, No. 2 (August, 1956),
pp. 15-17, 72-75. ("Forty-five years ago I left Sweden for
America. I can hardly believe that that 20-year old immi­grant
boy is now Governor of Montana. Where but in
America could anyone have a story like mine?")
"Swedish Contributions to American Culture" by Earl
Warren, Chief Justice of the United States, in The Depart­ment
of State Bulletin, Vol. X X X I I I , No. 841 (August,
100
1955), pp. 222-224. (Address made at the American Festi­val
at Skansen, Sweden, on July 5, 1955.)
"Captain John Ericsson: Pioneer in Solar Energy" by
John I. Yellott, in The Sun at W o r k , Quarterly News Let­ter
of the Association for Applied Solar Energy, Phoenix,
Arizona, Vol. I, No. 3 (Sept., 1956), pp. 6-13; Vol. I, No. 4
(Dec, 1956), pp. 8-14; Vol. II, No. 1 (March, 1957), pp.
10-14; Vol. II, No. 2 (June, 1957), pp. 10-13. (Detailed dis­cussion
of Ericsson's several inventions—the caloric engine,
the screw propeller, iron-clad warships—and of the Battle
at Hampton Roads.)
* * *
"Utah News" is a column written by Carl E. Johansson
of Salt Lake City and published regularly in California
Veckoblad. In the issue of April 11, 1957 appeared an ac­count
which we found so interesting that we asked Mr.
Johansson for permission to quote the following excerpts:
Once again a General Conference of the Latter Day Saints
Church has come to a close. . . . The (Swedish) Reunion
Saturday night in the Temple View Stake Hall was attend­ed
by more than 500 people of Swedish blood.. . . For many
the highlight of the evening came when the (chairman)
asked all those who had filled a mission for the Church in
Sweden to stand, and more than 100 men and women stood
up. . . . Swedish blood is flowing in the veins of more than
one out of every five persons in this great territory and
nearly all of these people have come as a result of the
preaching and instructions of the "Mormon Elders" or mis­sionaries
sent from Utah and surrounding States to Swe­den.
. . . For the person with the time, ability, money and
energy to gather all the available material in diaries and
family histories and to interview people with information
there is a tremendous opportunity to write a doctor's thesis
or something similar. . . . I would dare a guess that in no
place in the world where emigrants from Sweden have
gathered for the last 100 years is there more valuable ma­terial
written—and scattered—but still available than right
101
here in this territory. And every day you find people doing
everything to get information of their forefathers from Swe­den.
. . . You cannot visit the Genealogical Society's office
and microfilming department here without finding a dozen
or so people speaking Swedish and going through the rec­ords
that were written so painstakingly by hand by the old
parish ministers in Sweden.
% % %
Isidor Kjellberg (1841-1895), who is mentioned in the
article on Swedish labor strikes in this issue (see page 88),
spent a few years in America. After two years in the In­stitute
of Technology in Stockholm, he had worked as a
mechanical engineer and draftsman. In 1869 he came to
America and was the editor of Svenska Monitoren in St.
Paul (1870) and of Justitia in Chicago (1871). Returning
to Sweden in 1872 he founded that year the weekly Öst­göten
in Linköping, a paper that became widely known as
an outspoken champion of the rights of labor and as a
propagandist for political, religious, and economic reforms.
The avowed enemy of the monarchy, of class distinction,
bureaucracy and intellectual snobbery, Kjellberg advocated
in his paper and through popular lectures, the republican
form of government, world peace, labor unions, the pre­vention
of cruelty to animals, free speech and a free press.
In 1881 he served a jail sentence for having published a
radical anti-monarchial article in his paper,. He visited
America again in 1890 and lectured in Minneapolis and
Chicago. He wrote two books on America: Föredrag o m
A m e r i k a , hållet i Stockholm den 18 febr. 1883 (Stockholm,
1883), and A m e r i k a - b o k . Anteckningar från författarens
besök i Nya Verlden år 1890, o m huru våra dervarande
vänner och anförvandter, bröder och systrar, ha det (Lin­köping,
1892). When he died in 1895 his son became the
editor and publisher of Östgöten.
102
A N I N V I T A T I ON
Americans of Swedish background, or of whatever back­ground,
are invited to become members of the Swedish Pio­neer
Historical Society and thus to support its research and
educational program. The Society, established to record the
achievements of the Swedish pioneers, is an American or­ganization
whose work is centered on fundamental things
—the collecting of historical materials, books and pamph­lets,
the encouraging and advancing of research, the schol­arly
editing and publishing of historical material, and the
promoting of general interest in the contributions of Swed­ish
pioneers and their descendants to the development of
America.
Sustaining members contributing $10 per year receive
all publications of the Society free, including the Quarterly.
Annual members contributing $3 per year receive the Quar­terly
and have the right to purchase all other publications
at cost. A single contribution of $250 or more provides a
Life membership. Contributions to the Society are de­ductible
for Federal income tax purposes.
Please fill in the form below and forward it together
with check to the Chairman of the Membership Com­mittee.
Chairman, Membership Committee
Swedish Pioneer Historical Society
208 N. Wells Street, Chicago 6, III.
Please enroll me as a (Sustaining) (Annual) member
of the Swedish Pioneer Historical Society. My contri­bution
of $ is enclosed herewith.
Name
Address
103